Find Out Which Musical Icons Are Playing Free Shows at the Stern Grove Festival 2023

The Flaming Lips, Patti Smith and Buddy Guy are among the list of living legends slated to play the 2023 Stern Grove Festival this summer. The free concert series returns to the outdoor amphitheater in the Inner Sunset for its 86th year with Sunday concerts from June 18 through Aug. 20. General admission reservations will be available beginning May 18, while VIP tables are available to reserve starting on Tuesday. 

The festival producers announced a dazzling roster of talent that kicks off with jazz fusion collective Snarky Puppy and guitar prodigy Isaiah Sharkey on June 18. The series continues with 18 more musical acts, including folk rockers Indigo Girls on June 25, Canadian electronic duo Bob Moses on July 30, elder blues statesman Buddy Guy on Aug. 6 and punk poet laureate Patti Smith on August 13. The 2023 season closes out with 40-year-old psychedelic rock band The Flaming Lips on Aug. 20.

The San Francisco Symphony has long been a Stern Grove Festival favorite, and on July 23, conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser will lead the orchestra in a rare collaboration with funk and soul crew Lettuce that will fuse classical, hip-hop and modern jazz. 

Stern Grove Festival, which self-identifies as the oldest outdoor music festival in the Bay Area, offers free tickets on a limited first-come, first-served RSVP basis. The 2022 concert series hosted more than 70,000 attendees and performances of the likes of Too $hort, Toro y Moi, Taj Mahal and Cat Power.

According to a press release, Stern Grove withstood significant flood damage from this past winter’s onslaught of storms. San Francisco Recreation and Parks has performed extensive repairs to the site that will continue through the summer, but the organizers wrote that it won’t interrupt this year’s festival. The performances will also be livestreamed. 

Stern Grove Festival 

🗓️ June 18-Aug. 20
📍 Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove 
🎟️ Free (Reservations Required)